Reuters: White House, State Dep’t received e-mails within two hours of Benghazi attack about jihadi group taking credit

posted at 11:21 pm on October 23, 2012 by Allahpundit

We actually know most of this already, I think. Remember this Reuters story from October 2 describing multiple intelligence reports about a jihadi connection even in the first few hours afterward? How about the AP’s piece four days ago about the CIA’s station chief informing the White House within 24 hours that militants might be involved? The White House had plenty of reason to suspect more was going on than a protest that got out of hand, even from the very beginning. But that would meddle with one of O’s strongest reelection narratives, i.e. the president who demolished Al Qaeda (read this for a stark illustration of how certain key supporters are helping him out with that), so we didn’t hear about it until Eli Lake and CNN and Reuters all but dragged it out of him.

What we didn’t know until now is that the White House Situation Room got a heads up on whodunnit early enough that Chris Stevens may well have still been alive at the time.

The emails, obtained by Reuters from government sources not connected with U.S. spy agencies or the State Department and who requested anonymity, specifically mention that the Libyan group called Ansar al-Sharia had asserted responsibility for the attacks…

A third email, also marked SBU and sent at 6:07 p.m. Washington time, carried the subject line: “Update 2: Ansar al-Sharia Claims Responsibility for Benghazi Attack.”

The message reported: “Embassy Tripoli reports the group claimed responsibility on Facebook and Twitter and has called for an attack on Embassy Tripoli.”

While some information identifying recipients of this message was redacted from copies of the messages obtained by Reuters, a government source said that one of the addresses to which the message was sent was the White House Situation Room, the president’s secure command post.

Carney mentioned afterwards that “extremists” might have been involved in the, ahem, spontaneous protest, but he didn’t name Ansar al-Sharia or suggest that U.S. intelligence had a particular group in mind. Which is curious, because the e-mails pointing to the group’s Twitter/Facebook claims weren’t the White House’s only piece of evidence against them. Eli Lake reported three weeks ago that American spies captured communications between Ansar al-Sharia and the local Al Qaeda affiliate after the attack.

Ansar al Sharia has been declared by the State Department to be a an Al Qaeda-affiliated group. A member of the group suspected of participating in the Sept. 11 attack in Benghazi has been arrested and is being held in Tunisia…

Fox News was told that an estimated 300 to 400 national security figures received these emails in real time almost as the raid was playing out and concluding. People who received these emails work directly under the nation’s top national security, military and diplomatic officials, Fox News was told.

If I understand the White House’s Benghazi narrative in its current form, it boils down to this. There was no protest, but the attack was still kinda sorta spontaneous insofar as it was inspired by what was happening at the embassy in Cairo. And it wasn’t an official Al Qaeda or Ansar al-Sharia operation, even though members of AQIM and Ansar al-Sharia — including the founder of the latter group — were on the scene and/or participating. Essentially, the White House wants you to believe that members of two prominent jihadist paramilitary groups were kicking around on September 11 when one of them turned on the TV, heard about the Mohammed movie from coverage of the Egyptian embassy assault, and decided to quickly pull together a complex, heavily-armed attack on the local U.S. consulate involving 20 or so people. Never mind that there had been harassment of, and attacks on, western interests in the city for months; these guys apparently had no serious designs on Chris Stevens or his compatriots until they heard about the YouTube video and hulked out in the form of an organized armed raid. The only thing that makes this story plausible is that security for Stevens at the compound was so disgracefully poor that hardened jihadis probably could have drawn up a play in the dirt outside the building and gotten to the ambassador. That’s Obama’s defense here, essentially — that the consulate was so easily breached thanks to threadbare protection for Stevens that it’s quite possible the whole thing was put together by amateurs, without planning.

Update: Patterico e-mails with a good catch about the Fox News excerpt quoted above. It’s Ansar al-Sharia in Yemen that’s been designated by State as an Al Qaeda affiliate, not Ansar al-Sharia in Libya. There are, in fact, multiple Ansar al-Sharias in Libya; I wrote a bit about that here. Al Qaeda HQ in Pakistan has evidently been using that name as an alias for some of its affiliates. The Benghazi group may or may not be one of them, but given their contacts with AQIM after the attack as described above, it’s probably a matter of time before State designates them an official AQ affiliate too.

Blowback

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From NBC: White House told of militant claim two hours after Libya attack, emails show

Flora Duh on October 24, 2012 at 12:34 AM

Someone needs to wake up Matt Drudge.

JPeterman on October 24, 2012 at 12:36 AM

two things I learned about Drudge in many, many years since I follow: 1) he’s not a night owl (not staying up late to update on a story or put a new one up there, regardless how big it is) and his beauty sleep is quasi sacred :) 2) he loooves his lunch break :) …try to get an update of a big story on Drudge at either of these times, sure fail….ok, maybe only a big bubba story (complete with dress and stain and all :) would go up at noon or after 10 pm :)…

Yes, no one in the intelligence community saw 9-11 coming or tried to warn Bush that a massive attack was imminent. You’re well informed.

I know this will come as a surprise to your fogged little psyche, but Iraq was NOT about 9/11. It was only necessary in post 9/11 reality. The one that got Stevens killed.

Fighton03 on October 24, 2012 at 12:47 AM

It was necessary in post 9/11 reality with bogus intelligence from sources the CIA had discredited, yet were fully embraced by neocons determined to product a justification for war. Read the story of al Janabi and Chalabi to understand that official statements of the Secretary of State and other top officials were based on pure lies.

Additionally, I don’t think that 7 hours is enough time for a realistic response.

That being said, it’s quite possible that administration officials resisted making difficult decisions regarding increasing the military footprint in Libya.

blink on October 24, 2012 at 12:23 AM

Lord knows I’m no expert, but they said that it would have been possible to send a few F-16′s to buzz the place and scare them off, even if they couldn’t drop anything due to our people still being inside. I guess we’ll see how it all pans out.

He didn’t cover the third-debate either. So, if we use your logic, I guess we can definitively say that Obama’s third-debate bounce will be just like his second-debate bounce: Non-existent. After all, per you, Drudge only covers things in which the public is interested.

This intensifies motivation to vote him out. Turnout/enthusiasm is always key.

The more the news spreads, the longer it’s in the news, those low-information voters who have not yet realized how truly terrible Obama is will for once hear about it whether from the news or from people they know.

two things I learned about Drudge in many, many years since I follow: 1) he’s not a night owl (not staying up late to update on a story or put a new one up there, regardless how big it is) and his beauty sleep is quasi sacred :) 2) he loooves his lunch break :) …try to get an update of a big story on Drudge at either of these times, sure fail….ok, maybe only a big bubba story (complete with dress and stain and all :) would go up at noon or after 10 pm :)…

jimver on October 24, 2012 at 12:52 AM

True. Drudge is not a bunny-slippered puddin’ cup like the “regulars” who infest Hot Air.

two things I learned about Drudge in many, many years since I follow: 1) he’s not a night owl (not staying up late to update on a story or put a new one up there, regardless how big it is) and his beauty sleep is quasi sacred :) 2) he loooves his lunch break :) …try to get an update of a big story on Drudge at either of these times, sure fail….ok, maybe only a big bubba story (complete with dress and stain and all :) would go up at noon or after 10 pm :)…

I asked hawkdriver about that thread, he said that he and his co-workers discussed it at length and tended to agree with you. Helicopters, which for rescue would seem the best option, have a very short range.

Cindy Munford on October 24, 2012 at 12:29 AM

Yes! I saw your comments about it and responded to you, but, alas, you had already left the thread.

I appreciated the mention, even if you did think I was cosmo at first.

Famed civil rights attorney Gloria Allred will be in a Boston area courtroom Wednesday in an attempt to unseal the sworn testimony given by Republican Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, in a prior court case, RadarOnline.com is exclusively reporting.

Yes, no one in the intelligence community saw 9-11 coming or tried to warn Bush that a massive attack was imminent. You’re well informed.

Yeah..we read that…”they want to blow up airplanes”

It was necessary in post 9/11 reality

bayam on October 24, 2012 at 12:53 AM

Glad you agree. The “lies” were agreed to by the previous administration, two foreign governments (germany and England), and the overt declarations of our enemy. Countries should not play asymmetric games unless they’re willing to pay the price.

BTW, way to ignore Obies fumbling of the Iraq victory and the entire Afghan campaign.

This intensifies motivation to vote him out. Turnout/enthusiasm is always key.

The more the news spreads, the longer it’s in the news, those low-information voters who have not yet realized how truly terrible Obama is will for once hear about it whether from the news or from people they know.

Funny! I was just thinking, shame bayam couldn’t have taken all his extra dots over there and built a wall or maybe shot them with the dots, or even bombed them with his extra dots. Of course his dots are defective so maybe that had something to do with it.

Bigger than this – why was Stevens in Benghazi that day? Obama knows and he also knows that others do, and that they will tell ahead of the election. In his first debate he knew. He’s acted like a beaten beast ever since.

maybe you too realize that we aren’t interested in your posting incontinence on HA, yet you continue to come here like the pest that you are, despite the fact that everybody despises you your lies and trolling and wants to exchange one of your limbs for a good Trump revelation :)…

QUESTION: Did Pakistan share with the U.S. the report of its Abbottabad Commission, which was established after Usama bin Ladin was killed in May last year?

MR. TONER: Frankly, we’ve just seen reports in the Pakistani press about the Abbottabad Commission report. As we’ve stated previously, we obviously share with the Government of Pakistan a profound interest in finding out what kinds of support networks bin Ladin might have had. So we believe such a report, when it does finally get finalized and published, that it’s an –important for the American people and the Pakistani people to know.

QUESTION: Do you agree with their assessment, which has also come up in the news reports, that no one in Pakistan knew about the presence of Usama bin Ladin in –

MR. TONER: Can you – just the first part of your question again. Do I agree with –

QUESTION: Do you agree with the assessment of the report, which has appeared in the Pakistani newspapers and elsewhere, that no one inside Pakistan knew that Usama bin Ladin is present in the city for last five years?

MR. TONER: Again, we’ve not yet seen the report itself, so you’re asking me to comment on press reports about the report’s contents. So let’s wait until we have the report and then we’ll be happy to comment on it.

QUESTION: And finally, during this investigation, did the Pakistani team seek any information or assistance as part of the investigation from the U.S.?

MR. TONER: From the U.S.? Not that I’m aware. If that’s different, I’ll find out.

If I were SecState, if State didn’t have the budget (ha ha) I would pay out of pocket for a dresser to go with me when I had to fly overseas so that I would always be immaculately groomed when representing my country.

Hasn’t anyone ever explained to you that Al Qaeda wanted US troops out of Saudi Arabia?

Hasn’t anyone ever explained to you that US troops were only in Saudi Arabia because they were supporting the United Nations northern no-fly zone, the United Nations southern no-fly zone, the United Nations blockade in the Persian Gulf, and the United Nations blockade in the Red Sea?

Hasn’t anyone ever explained to you that those United Nations efforts were directed at Iraq?

Still think the big topic on the morning shows/news will be Mourdocks rape/abortion gaffe.

gumbyandpokey on October 24, 2012 at 1:04 AM

gumby’s other attempts at news analysis:

So you guys want to get excited by a poll that is hopelessly out of date since it came before the ATOMIC BOMB 7.8 number, which Rasmussen said on Fox this morning was the turning point in Obama’s rising approval rating and poll numbers?

I’m still reading page 3, so forgive if covered ….
Wasn’t ther some sort of rescue mission, somewhere, that never got reported ?
Can anyone help this old brain ? Where ? When ?.

pambi on October 24, 2012 at 1:01 AM

There was a rescue later that same night. It was screwed up too, because the people doing the rescuing had no idea there were 37 people to get out of there, and they didn’t have enough transportation. Another fight happened, and two more people were killed, although I haven’t heard a word about them since. The 37 live people were injured, and I haven’t heard a word about them since either.